On
the fourth day of the tournament (third for half of the 16 team
field) teams were playing their sixth and seventh games of the week,
and predictably a lot of them were playing with considerably less
energy than they displayed on opening day.
That
was not the case however for the EvoShield Canes, who showed they
were firing on all cylinders offensively from the get-go in the
morning’s first game against Tri-State Arsenal. They got things
started in fitting fashion, like most teams the Canes were starting
to run low on pitching depth on the final day of pool play and were
forced to turn to a primary position player. Of course, the Canes
being the Canes meant that the position player happened to be a lefty
who broke 90 mph.
2014
1B/LHP Hunter Williams
(Chesterfield, VA) sat 87-91 in a scoreless first inning, backing it
with an 81-83 mph slider that showed good depth and mixed in an
occasional changeup to right-handed hitters at 77-78. While he’s
still a work in progress on the mound, he showed flashes that make it
seem possible that in spite of his massive raw power, he may have a
future on the mound, and his four pitch strikeout of soon to be
Virginia Cavalier freshman C Matt Thaiss was an excellent example of
that.

2013
C Matt Thaiss
(Jackson, NJ) got revenge in the second lefty-lefty matchup with
Williams. After Williams painted the outside corner with a pair of
fastballs to move ahead in the count to 0-2, Williams tried to put
him away with another slider low and away, but left it up a bit and
Thaiss unloaded a hard line drive to the right center field gap for a
two-out, two-run triple. Thaiss has been a major impact bat for the
Arsenal throughout the tournament and finished up with a line of
.643/.737/.857 in 19 plate appearances.
While
Thaiss led the Arsenal lineup admirably, they just couldn’t keep up
with the Canes. 2014 3B Charlie
Cody
(Chesapeake, VA) got things started early on with a solo run home run
to left field on a very smooth well controlled swing. While Cody
still has some work to do on using the entire field on a consistent
basis, he has one of the cleanest right-handed swings (when pulling)
in the class and he has deceptive power.
Cody
wasn’t the only Cane to leave the yard, as 2014 PG All-American 1B
Justin Bellinger
(Weston, MA) unloaded on a low fastball for a solo home run to lead
off the bottom of the third inning. The homer was Bellinger’s first
of the tourney, as he, like Thaiss, has been pitched carefully
throughout the tournament. It was a key moment in the game as the
Arsenal had just cut the defecit to two and Bellinger’s bomb
started a big inning that allowed the Canes to rebuild the margin to
a comfortable level that allowed them to manage their pitching staff.
Bellinger would also single and walk in his other two plate
appearances on the day. Defensively he provides a big target for his
infielders, though he’s more adept at picking low throws out of the
dirt than snaring high throws. It should be noted that his present
defensive ability is barely more than an afterthought to scouts at
this point given his prodigious power.
2014
MIF/OF DJ Burt
(Fuquay-Varina, NC) showed off his ability to use his plus speed
effectively. After flicking what should have been a single into left
center field in his second at-bat, he hustled out of the box the
whole way and aggressively stretched into a double (rounding first in
4.27 seconds). Two pitches later he stole third and then came in to
score without a throw on a routine ground ball to the shortstop.
2014
3B Taylor Lane
(Chesapeake, VA) also had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with
three well struck balls. His first trip included a double to the
warning track that one-hopped the fence, followed by a single back up
the box and then finally a towering flyout to the warning track in
left field. Lane has exceptionally fast hands and creates very good
bat speed with a long swing, while his approach leaves him prone to
some swing-and-miss, when he connects he is capable of doing some
damage, and the amount of damage he can cause is likely to increase
significantly as he gets stronger.
2014
3B/RHP David Hensley
(San Diego, CA) was impressive in his start against a loaded Marucci
Elite team. While he didn’t have his best stuff and he’s pitched
sparingly this year, he competed extremely well against a lineup
filled with MLB Draft prospects. While he didn’t break 90 mph with
his fastball or show a plus breaking ball, his stuff was solid and he
projects to get a lot stronger physically. More importantly, he
navigated the land mine that is Marucci’s lineup by nibbling on the
corners effectively and executing in big spots. He didn’t show as
much in terms of raw stuff today as he has in the past, but the way
he battled through tough situations was impressive, and he looked
like the kind of player that you want to have on your side. It was a
good encore to his 4-for-4 effort at the plate in the Show’s 3-1
win over East Cobb yesterday.
Arguably
the defensive highlight of the day came from an unlikely source: 2015
RHP Drew Finley
(San Diego, CA) who moved to 1B in the sixth inning for the San Diego
Show, made a diving stop along the right field foul line to snare a
rocket off the bat of 2014 MIF Greg Deichmann with the bases loaded
and two outs to preserve a one run lead. While he didn’t have to go
far to make the play, the ball came off the bat extremely hard and
Finley had little time to react, and it was an even more difficult
play when you consider that he had just entered the game defensively.
2014
LHP/OF Alex Verdugo
(Tucscon, AZ) made his second relief appearance of the tournament,
and would go on to earn the victory after getting Marucci Elite out
of a jam in the sixth and then pitching a scoreless top of the
seventh. He sat 90-92 with his fastball in this outing and while he
was up in the zone more often than he was in his previous outing, his
stuff was plenty good enough to get the job done. While he has the
body of a power hitting outfield, it would be very difficult to not
use a live loose lefty on the mound. Whether Verdugo profiles as a
LHP or power hitting RF will be an interesting debate as the 2014 MLB
Draft approaches. This author is currently leaning towards the mound.

2014
MIF Austin Filiere
(Chandler, AZ) had an good showing against East Cobb in the afternoon
games, blasting a home run to left field on a 3-1 fastball and making
a good play going to his right while playing second base, making an
accurate throw while falling away from 1B to rob a base hit. He has a
thin athletic frame that projects for added strength with good bat
speed and pullside pop.
2015
LHP Erik Cha
(Chino Hills, CA) showed good life on his mid-80s fastball with late
run to the arm side. He has a loose arm action and a young athletic
build that projects for added strength. He has some work to do to add
more power to his curveball as he tends to slow his arm down when he
throws his secondary pitches relative to his fastball. His changeup
has good tailing and diving action in the low-70s, and his arm
projects.
South
Florida Elite Squad SS Jonathan
India
(2015, American Heritage HS, FL) is the No. 45 ranked player in the
2015 class by Perfect Game and one of the top young infielders in the
country. He’s hitting .417 (5-12, 2 doubles, 1 triple) through five
games while hitting leadoff for the Elite. During Tuesday night’s
game he fielded a routine ground ball with the tip of his middle
finger on his right hand, made a strong throw to first base for the
out and immediately started wringing his hand in pain and came off
the field. Ends up he tore back his fingernail and at least badly
bruised his first knuckle joint. He was starting and leading off in
the 8:00 am game Wednesday morning, though, and I was interested in
how he would respond. In his first at-bat he was visibly flexing his
hand before and after every pitch trying to figure out whether it
would work or not, and then blasted a long foul to left field with
easy home run distance. Simply state, the finger is working just
fine.
OF
Ryan
Nolcheff
(2014, Hamilton HS, AZ) has left a very positive impression on the
college coaches and PG scouting staff. Playing centerfield and
hitting leadoff for Mountain West, Nolcheff is 9-for-17 at the plate
with four runs scored and three stolen bases. It looks like he has at
least solid average big league speed if not a step or two better.
He’s 5-foot-11, 180-pounds with solid upper body strength and the
contact I’ve seen is solid up the middle to right centerfield line
drive contact. The interesting thing about Nolcheff is that he plays
at Hamilton HS in Chandler, Arizona, and only had nine at-bats as a
junior this past spring, so he’s probably had almost no exposure to
many college coaches. He’s a young talent that hopefully gets a
strong look from schools this summer and over the next year.
Another
Arizona native who deserves more attention from the college coaching
community is Team Northwest’s RHP
Billy Oxford
(2014, Sunrise Mountain HS, AZ). The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Oxford has
been steadily improving over the past year. He topped out at 85 mph
at last September’s EvoShield Underclass and Upperclass
Championships, then topped out at 87 mph at the WWBA West Memorial
Day Tournament. Wednesday, Oxford sat in the upper-80s, topping out
at 90 mph, for six very solid innings, showing very good downhill
angle on a heavy fastball that produced ground ball after ground
ball. His mid-70s curveball is a solid second pitch and he didn’t
walk a hitter in his outing. I talked to Oxford’s father after the
game and he said that while his son had some local offers, he was
looking to go out of state for school and hopefully this outing would
help him in that goal. Oxford is a good student as well and hopefully
he’ll be able to meet his goal as he continues to improve.
The
Florida Burn’s Ryan
Miller
(2014, Venice HS, FL) is undoubtedly one of the more versatile
players in the country and he proved it again on Wednesday. The
slender and very young looking senior-to-be threw four innings
against Team Northwest, topping out at 91 mph frequently and flashing
a solid mid-70s curveball. His improvement on the mound has been
notable this summer, but even more notable is the Florida Atlantic
commit’s ability to play virtually every position on the field.
Miller is C Mike Rivera’s backup on both the Venice HS and Burn
teams. He ran the 60 in 6.79 seconds at the Perfect Game National
Showcase and threw 94 mph from the outfield, his third position, but
has the build, tools and athletic ability to project as an infielder.
There is only one other player in the country who comes immediately
to mind who could probably play all nine positions, including catcher
and pitcher, at a prospect level right now and that is PG
All-American Jakson
Reetz.
That’s good company.